File Photo: This handout picture from the South Carolina Police twitter page shows the Charleston shooting suspect, 21-year-old Dylann Roof.
Washington:
A South Carolina judge on Thursday set July 11 next year as a trial date for Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white male charged with killing nine black people in an historic African-American church a month ago.
Roof faces nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a firearms charge over the June 17 massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
Roof, wearing a striped prison uniform and restraints on his hands and ankles, stared ahead and said nothing during a hearing that lasted nearly 30 minutes, the local Post and Courier newspaper reported on its website.
It was his first court appearance in person since his arrest in North Carolina a day after the shooting. He had previously appeared at a bail hearing via a video link from a Charleston area detention center.
No members of his family were seen in the court room on Thursday, the Post and Courier said.
Judge Julius Nicholson also extended by one week a gag order on information relating to the case, including recordings of 911 emergency calls to police on the night of the shooting, despite a request by local news organizations for their release.
The extra time is meant to allow anyone who objects to their release to come forward.
Court documents posted online Thursday included a judicial form, bearing Roof's child-like signature, that states he is denied release on bail because he is a flight risk that poses a danger to the public.
Roof, who resided near South Carolina's state capital Columbia, is accused of using a nine millimeter handgun to fatally shoot nine African-Americans as they attended an evening Bible study class.
The dead included Emanuel's chief pastor Clementa Pinckney, 41, who was also a state senator. Three other people survived what local authorities swiftly described as a hate crime.
Roof sped off in a car, but was arrested the following morning in North Carolina.
Later, a website attributed to him - and bearing photos of him brandishing firearms and a Confederate flag - emerged that suggested the mass shooting was racially motivated.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has said that she favors the death penalty for Roof if he is convicted.
Roof faces nine counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and a firearms charge over the June 17 massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
Roof, wearing a striped prison uniform and restraints on his hands and ankles, stared ahead and said nothing during a hearing that lasted nearly 30 minutes, the local Post and Courier newspaper reported on its website.
It was his first court appearance in person since his arrest in North Carolina a day after the shooting. He had previously appeared at a bail hearing via a video link from a Charleston area detention center.
No members of his family were seen in the court room on Thursday, the Post and Courier said.
Judge Julius Nicholson also extended by one week a gag order on information relating to the case, including recordings of 911 emergency calls to police on the night of the shooting, despite a request by local news organizations for their release.
The extra time is meant to allow anyone who objects to their release to come forward.
Court documents posted online Thursday included a judicial form, bearing Roof's child-like signature, that states he is denied release on bail because he is a flight risk that poses a danger to the public.
Roof, who resided near South Carolina's state capital Columbia, is accused of using a nine millimeter handgun to fatally shoot nine African-Americans as they attended an evening Bible study class.
The dead included Emanuel's chief pastor Clementa Pinckney, 41, who was also a state senator. Three other people survived what local authorities swiftly described as a hate crime.
Roof sped off in a car, but was arrested the following morning in North Carolina.
Later, a website attributed to him - and bearing photos of him brandishing firearms and a Confederate flag - emerged that suggested the mass shooting was racially motivated.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has said that she favors the death penalty for Roof if he is convicted.
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